Recommended: My Life in France

The formidable chef’s memoir of her travels through France and awakening to the fine food and wine of her adopted country is pure pleasure to read. Wonderfully written, she recalls in delectable detail her discovery of delicious dishes and her struggle to not only learn to cook, but master the art of French cooking and translate it into one of the most influential cookbooks of all time. Her enthusiasm for life and learning leaps off each page and left this reader unexpectedly inspired and, not surprisingly, hungry.